Gnawty
Gnawty is a small terrestrial beaver-like animal found in many levels of Donkey Kong Country. Gnawty is usually found in groups and can be spawned by oil drums found in several levels.
They are easily defeated by jumping on them and both Donkey and Diddy can take them out in one hit.
The two larger variants of Gnawty are the bosses Very Gnawty (a larger green version of Gnawty) and Really Gnawty (a larger brown version).